Tufts' first Sephardic Festival brought scholars and activists Matilda Ko?©n-Sarano and Aharon Cohen to campus last Thursday. The two personalities - who also happen to be married - celebrated the Sephardic culture with students, telling stories and sharing their expertise on Sephardic traditions.
The event, organized by the Department of German, Russian, and Asian languages, served as a way to extend awareness and appreciation for Ladino language and culture, a mixture of Spanish and Hebrew which represents an integral part of the Sephardic Jewish tradition.
The couple's diverse and well-known accomplishments in disseminating Ladino culture throughout the world make them two of the preeminent activists in preserving Ladino culture.
An educator, author, and radio personality, Ko?©n-Sarano has devoted her life to preserving Ladino language and culture. As a Jewish survivor of World War II, Ko?©n-Sarano believes she survived the Holocaust era so that she could do this work. She teaches Ladino at the University level in Israel, and has written her own musical comedies and radio plays, as well as publishing collections of Ladino folk stories that have been handed down over generations.
But Ko?©n-Sarano is best known for her exceptional ability as a storyteller, which Tufts students enjoyed first-hand during her visit.
"I went home and told my parents about all the stories she told," said Alexandra Altman, a sophomore in Ladino 1 who attended the Evening of Stories and Songs last Thursday night.
But Ko?©n-Sarano's educational endeavors extend beyond classroom walls. She often travels around Israel performing with busloads of native Ladino-speaking women, many of whom she has coached in storytelling techniques.
"I never would have had the courage to teach Ladino if it wasn't for Matilda," said Gloria Ascher, co-director of Judaic studies and an associate professor in the Department of German, Russian, and Asian Languages. Ascher was particularly thankful for the activist's inspiration because she was encouraged to speak English rather than Ladino as a child.
Students who enjoyed Koen-Sarano's visit will have the opportunity to work more intimately with the activist next semester when she and Ascher co-teach several courses, including Ladino 1 and 2 and Ascher's Jewish Women class. She will also be featured at two nighttime events, one in which she will tell stories and sing songs from traditional Sephardic culture, and the other in which she will perform her own original poems and songs, written in Ladino.
Cohen, Ko?©n-Sarano's husband, is the General Manager of the Israeli National Authority for Ladino and Its Culture. He is also a Ladino educator in Israel and serves as a rabbi to Jewish communities in need of leadership. "[Cohen] has been instrumental in helping Ethiopian Jews come to Israel," Ascher said. The rabbi is scheduled to give a lecture and slide show on Wednesday about his experiences with the Ethiopian Jews.
The Ladino program, which Ascher originally envisioned primarily just as a culture class, has gained popularity since its inception at Tufts three semesters ago. Many students are now taking the courses to fulfill their language requirement.
"Just from Matilda's books alone there is enough material for a Ladino 1,000," Ascher said.
Ascher was hopeful of a possible second Sephardic Festival next year, but said this year's version will be a hard act to follow considering the high caliber of guests.
The Ladino tradition stemmed from the era after Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition. The language they took with them adopted elements of other surrounding languages, such as Greek, Turkish, and Arabic, which gave rise to Ladino.
